THC gummies, Delta-9 drinks and jars of cured cannabis will stay on Texas store shelves with no legal age restrictions after state lawmakers once again failed to agree on whether to regulate or ban the state's booming hemp industry.
The Texas Legislature wrapped up its second special session without even adopting a proposed age limit of 21 to buy or sell intoxicating hemp products. While many, if not most, stores voluntarily card their customers, the inaction by lawmakers means Texans of any age can still legally buy hemp-derived cannabinoids.
"My position remains unchanged; the Senate and I are for a total THC ban," Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick posted on X Wednesday night. Patrick has said the issue is one of the most important in his long political career.
"I'm not going to legalize marijuana in Texas, and if people want to vote me out of office for it, so be it," he said in June after Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed the first attempt at a ban passed by the Legislature.
Hemp and marijuana are the same plant. The only difference is an arbitrary legal distinction. Hemp contains less than 0.3% Delta-9 THC, the main ingredient in cannabis that gets people high. But cannabis contains more than 100 other cannabinoids that remain legal, including THCA, which converts to Delta-9 when heated.
Almost 9,000 retail locations — from gas stations to smoke shops to liquor stores — are registered with the state's health department to sell consumable hemp products, according to records obtained by KUT News. That includes more than 500 stores in Travis County alone.
During this second special session, the Senate passed a sweeping ban on almost all cannabinoids for the third time since May. The House never even considered the bill in committee, one of the first steps before members vote on a bill.
State Rep. Briscoe Cain, R-Deer Park, floated a regulation model closely tied to the state's liquor laws that would have banned any smokable forms of cannabis. State Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, filed a bill that would have imposed an age limit of 21 to buy or sell hemp products.
None of the bills survived, leaving a multibillion-dollar industry in the same legal gray zone it's occupied since the state legalized hemp in 2019.
Lobbyists for legal marijuana were relieved to see the THC ban die. But they were also disappointed lawmakers declined to adopt any age restrictions or stronger consumer protections.
"Patrick's all-or-nothing stance has blocked the passage of common sense restrictions," Heather Fazio, who leads the Texas Cannabis Policy Center, told KUT News. "It seems he would rather allow minors access to THC and keep that fodder in his pocket for this campaign than actually pass meaningful legislation that would restrict youth access."
The only real change in the status quo came Monday, when a separate law banning sales of all cannabinoid vapes took effect, with penalties of up to a year in jail and $4,000 in fines for retailers. Possession of THC vapes was not explicitly outlawed.
Unless Abbott calls lawmakers back for a third special session, the wide-open hemp market with brightly packaged gummies, drinks and smokeable flower remains untouched.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Travis County has more than 600 retail locations registered to sell hemp products. There are more than 500.
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